A Northland beef cattle farmer has been slapped with a $30,000 fine for failing to provide "adequate feed" for nearly 400 animals.
Jeffery Allan Wood, 69, pleaded guilty to six charges under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court on Tuesday, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said in a statement.
Ministry animal welfare acting manager Brendon Mikkelsen said inspectors found 387 cattle in "poor physical health" because of a "chronic lack of grass" and not enough supplementary feed.
"Most farmers do the right thing and Mr Wood is an experienced farmer and knew what he needed to do to feed and provide for the welfare of his animals."
Mikkelsen described the animals as "thin" and fell "well below" meeting the standard of the Sheep and Beef Cattle Code of Welfare.
The investigation began after a complaint from a veterinarian in July 2020, leading MPI to send welfare inspectors to Wood's Ruawai farm for multiple visits. The investigation led to 840 of Wood's animals being examined, some of which had "bad diarrhoea" and were "emaciated".
"In one case, when Mr Wood was directed to euthanise a severely lame young bull to mitigate its suffering, MPI found it still had not been done a week later, which Mr Wood claimed was because he could not find the animal."
Mikkelsen said "these animals were suffering" and Wood's delayed action "prolonged" that.
"He failed to meet the physical, health and behavioural needs of these animals. When we find evidence that animal welfare has been neglected, if appropriate - we will place the matter before the court."
As well as the fine, Wood has been ordered to pay $2834.80 in veterinarian fees and $6057.97 in farmer consultant fees.
MPI "strongly encourages" members of the public who are aware of ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 00 83 33.
